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Bio

Romanian-Italian by blood and born in an Austrian refugee camp, Claudia immigrated to Canada as an infant. She and her mother returned to Romania when she was 11 and she encountered great hardships. Claudia returned to Canada alone at the age of 16, supporting herself and completing high school while living in an Aboriginal community in Nova Scotia. She completed a Bachelor of Arts in criminology and sociology with Honours in Aboriginal Governance at Saint Mary's University and hopes to attend law school.

Story

My Canadian identity has definitely shifted over the years. When I was younger, I identified as Canadian just because I was Canadian. I didn’t really give it much thought. Through my teens, I started to question my Canadian identity, thinking: is this really who I am?

When I returned to Canada in my late teens and early 20s, I really kind of redefined who I was as a Canadian and I definitely made it more concrete that yes, I am a Canadian. More importantly, I identify with the Aboriginal communities. That’s my primary focus. They will always be my family. My roots are definitely embedded within the communities, within the culture, within the tradition.

I’m very spiritual. I follow the practices from sweat lodges to ceremonies to drumming. I drum with an Aboriginal women’s drum group, even traveling in the summer to all the mawiomis and the gatherings. It’s definitely a passion and definitely who I am now as a person. I’m very honoured to be a part of the culture and any little bit that I can do to help give back to what they’ve given me is always a priority.